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I am again this year doing the National Novel Writing Month challenge. I completed it the first two years I tried. This is the third time. Should be a charm, right?

NOT!! I have two anthologies I would like to send stories to, a novel that is at the editors, the sequel to that (I did that for last year’s NaNo), and at least two more novellas/novels to finish. So in my infinite wisdom, I signed up for NaNoWriMo! Well it is day 14 with 17 more to go. I’m coming in at just over 24k, at about the halfway mark for this novel. I don’t just write my 2k or so per day. I have to put some words in the handful of works in progress that are sitting on the back burners.

I am still doing the job hunting thing, and have plenty of time to write. Four hours of work a week is nothing at all so there is no excuse for me not to put words on the page. I was hoping to not have this kind of time on my hands but since I have it, I will make use of it.

Well, I need to go stretch, put a log on the fire, and grab a drink before I finish off the last few words for the day on my Nano. Then it will be off to work on one of the other projects for a bit before supper.

If any of you are participating in the insanity, congratulations and good luck. If you are not, then you are a wiser person than I. Good luck to you in all of your endeavors!

Today another of my short stories went live. Two years ago when I struck out on my own, I could have only dreamed of this. I currently have three stories in two different anthologies out.

Corvis Nocturnum and Dark Moon Press accepted my one short story, then soon was followed by a second. That was because SK Whiteside and Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly had taken my first one I submitted. I am STILL on cloud nine!!

I am gushing all over my pages today. I have had three stories in two anthologies (I know I said this already) go live in just a few weeks! Some authors never get this chance. I have worked hard to get this far. Every time I went over and over that story to correct any errors I found, read story out loud, print off story and go through it, then send it off to the editor, look CLOSELY at what changes were suggested and why, approve/reject changes (and say WHY if I reject them), then send back. REPEAT as many times as needed. I have been told by other published authors and professional editors that is one sign of quality work- polishing the story.

I am at this point in time an Indie author. That means I am a rebel, small time, and outside the mainstream. I am not rich. I am not a best-seller. YET! I do love what I do. I love to write. I love to tackle issues in a new way and make people think. Some of my stories are fluffy, but there is an undertone of an independent woman, who is not model-thin, who is intelligent, and has to overcome some sort of internal or external conflict or both. My gals (vamp, werewolf, or other paranormal) may get their butts kicked or lose the battle, but they eventually win the war.

Now I hope you will make the launch of Morbid Seraphic 2 break records for CHBB. I want you to step outside the normal limits and check out Bloody Kisses, a vampire erotica anthology volume 2.

I hope your hard work is paying off as well as mine is! I hope your dreams come true, and are tempered with hard work and love.

Again for the third year, I have decided to take on the task of writing 50k of words in 30 days. It is called National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. You need to average about 2,000 words per day to complete the challenge, and that is easier said than done some days.

NaNos must overcome challenges like day jobs, families, homework, and even writer’s block. You must have the will to miss shows you want to watch, go without sleep, and sometimes deal with computer breakdowns or lost chapters. My biggest challenges are not having a solid outline ( aka “pantser”) and writer’s block. I learned the hard way on the first NaNo to SAVE,SAVE, and backup everything.

I have a love/hate relationship with NaNo. I love the challenge and the adrenaline rush I get from doing it. I hate having to edit the veritable spewed garbage-esque writing that comes from the sheer desperation. I do love the reminder that I can do it, and that I can do it again. When I started this year’s NaNo all I knew was it was going to be paranormal and probably something romance.

To some, I am cheating. To others, I am playing by the rules. I had a rough outline for a short story done before November 1. The story had too much material to be a short, and I learned this after 5k of writing. So I decided I will NOT COUNT the first 5k of writing. I will only count what I wrote from 1 Nov to 30 Nov 2013. The final draft of this will be 5k more than what I will say it is for NaNo. Other people plot out their novels in advance, so why can’t I use my outline for this?

I have made my peace with the rules and their nuances. This is my interpretation and I am sticking to it. I have no excuse right now NOT to finish my NaNo project. I am currently unemployed and have not found a full-time job. I have plenty of hours in a day to write when I am not looking for a job. This should be a very productive time for writing for me, and it has been so far. I do not intend to change that just yet.

So to all you NaNos out there, have fun and happy writing. My first novel, “Wild Hearted” was my first NaNo project. Last year’s is still awaiting the editor. Who knows where this year’s will lead me.